The history and poetry of finger-ringsEdwards, Charles
History
The history and poetry of finger-rings
Edwards, Charles
Rings
“Permit me to lay before your readers a few facts which may furnish
matter of speculation for the curious, but may be doubted by some
or ridiculed by others. They are, nevertheless, strictly true. Some
twelve years ago I went out with a party on a deer hunt, and shot
down a fine buck. While dressing him, I cut up the haslet for my
hounds, and in doing so, I cut out a stone of dark greenish color,
about where the windpipe joins the lights. It was from an inch and
a half to two inches long, and quite heavy for its size, although
it appears to be porous. I have heard of such stones from old
hunters, and that they possessed the faculty of extracting poison,
and other medical virtues, but they were seldom found. They were
called beasle or bezoar stones. I have been a frontier man and
killed many a deer, but have never found another of the same kind.
I laid it by more as a matter of curiosity than having any faith in
its virtues.
“On the 12th ult. I had a favorite dog bitten on the nose by a
large rattlesnake. The dog at once commenced reeling and fell down.
I was within a few feet of him, and immediately (as the only remedy
at hand) forced a chew of tobacco down his throat. I got him home
very soon and dissolved some alum, but found his jaws nearly set.
I forced open his mouth, and poured it down his throat. I then
recollected seeing in your paper of the 5th ult. the description of
a stone and its virtue in extracting poison, in possession of some
family in Virginia, which stone, I presume, was similar to the one
I had taken from the deer. I got a bowl of warm water and applied
the stone to the place bitten, and then dropped it into the water,
when I could see a dirty, dark green substance shooting out of
it. This I repeated three times with a similar result. The fourth
time it seemed to show that all the poison had been extracted. In
less than a minute the dog got up, vomited up the tobacco, and
the swelling subsided immediately. In less than two hours he was
perfectly well, and eating any thing that was offered him.
“Now I will not decide which of the three remedies--the tobacco,
the alum or the stone--cured the dog; but from the fact that he
was immediately cured on the application of the stone, should
reasonably weigh in favor of that remedy. In the article published
in your paper it is remarked that ‘We are not aware that the
existence of such is known to the scientific world at all,’ and it
is spoken of as its origin being a mystery, and wholly unknown.
Now, will not the above facts reveal the mystery of their origin? I
have now several highly respectable neighbors who were with me when
I obtained the stone. I live about nine miles east of Montezuma, in
Dooly County, where it may be seen or the use of it obtained, by
any one who may need it.
“J. D. WILKES.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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